


Zelink Week 2017

by Yabanned



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-01-22 03:24:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12472384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yabanned/pseuds/Yabanned
Summary: My contribution to the Zelink Week organized on Tumblr by @semanazelink. As usual, I must declare I suck at following prompts, but I guess joining the fun is what matters (?)The prompts are: 1. Awakening // 2. Daily Life // 3. Perfume // 4. Dark Side // 5. Pain // 6. Make out // 7. DreamsBonus days: 8. First time // 9. Costumes // 10. Tribute to the fallen hero (Día de los Muertos)





	1. Don't say "always"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GEN / Majora’s Mask / 897 words.
> 
> The prompt is: Awakening

The first thing he always felt was the freshness of the morning breeze. He had learned to cover his ears as soon as he perceived it, because that prevented the clucking of the cucco roaming nearby from hammering his head. When he did that, the ocarina in his hand always felt cold against the skin of his cheek. He would normally move it away and shiver, then think about how tired and hungry he was, even when his body was full of energy. The contradiction weighted more and more every time it occurred. 

Shaking his head, Link scolded himself for giving in to the routine and thinking in terms of “always”. That three days loop was not “always”, there was a way out of it, there was a fourth day to be lived if only he could bring the mask back to the Happy Salesman. While he was at it, he’d better not fool himself into looking at the sky and question the ugly moon its reason for being “still there”, when it was him who went back to that point in time over and over. He had to bear with the double nature of time produced by that blue ocarina and carry on his duty. Quickly, for his own sanity’s sake.

With the ocarina still in hand, Link headed towards the west part of Clock Town. He had to go to the bank, where the enthusiastic guy at the counter would get mad at him for withdrawing so much rupees. Then, the general store and the bomb shop. Tatl would not say a word, she had the habit to sleep inside Link’s cap all the way through the boring stuff. They normally planned what to do on the next loop before jumping back, anyway, so she was not exactly useful in the first day morning.

Halfway through the stairs, Link stopped and looked at the ocarina in his hand.

_You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren’t you?_

The memories, blurry from the beginning, became fuzzier every time he played that little, frightening device to go back in time. Link was certain it would all come back to him as soon as he escaped Skull Kid’s trap, that the fog in his mind was only one more of that brat’s tricks, but even so, he feared to play the song so many times that it would lose its ability to bring back her voice, the voice of Princess Zelda. 

_Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I’ve known you forever._

Confronted to the memory of her gentle smile, the bank, the store, the bomb shop and the whole town felt like a dream, a nightmare he needed to snap out of. If he didn’t do so, and kept going to buy barrels with the mask of Darmani, that name would corner other, “Darunia”, into the foggy darkness of forget. Cremia and Romani, the girls at the ranch were Epona had appeared, were already replacing the memories of a girl called Malon, someone Link knew he used to know. Everything in Termina seemed to have that same purpose, to slide under the fog and take the place of Hyrule, to convince Link those three days were “always”, that he would forever be stuck there, between the clucking of the cucco and the hysterical laugh of an evil god pulling the moon towards the earth.

_I will never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule._

Her voice kept him grounded, watchful, conscious. There was nothing in Termina trying to take the place of Princess Zelda, after all, but the memories of her were fading on their own, hiding behind another contrivance of time that could only come from that cursed ocarina and the cruel Goddess of Time who was its rightful owner, someone that Link imagined as a cousin of the eerie Happy Mask Salesman. He needed to break free from it, he needed to wake up.

The postman, mumbling stuff about being late, bumped into Link and dragged him back to reality, if that could be called reality. The workers of the south square were about to be done with one of the structures, while Link watched them, one of them screamed, as he always did on the first day after hitting his thumb with the hammer. Link shook again, he would do so until his mind understood “always” was forbidden, for it was the key word of a spell that deprived him from his memories. 

He looked at the ocarina one more time. Even if he mistrusted the power of the instrument and suspected it was the cause of some blue feeling, some latent sorrow he perceived looming behind the fog of his memories, the truth was he depended on it. The ocarina was his only way to salvation and the only connection he had with the princess. A gift from her to keep him safe, to give him something that would remind him of her, of them.

_I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again._

Link put the ocarina in his pouch and ran upstairs to catch the bank owner before the dog peed on his counter and ruined his mood. If he wanted to gather all the stuff the gibdos of Ikana had asked him last time, he’d better hurry up.


	2. Passing time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some sort of continuation of the idea of chapter 1, here we have the point of view of Zelda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GEN / post Ocarina of Time (references to Skyward Sword and Majora's Mask) / 1140 words.
> 
> The prompt is: Daily Life

Zelda woke up to the same vague, grey feeling that had followed her since months ago. Outside her bedroom, the kingdom was starting its day, as usual. Farmers worked on the land, children played on their way to class, vendors organized their goods in the market. In the court, soldiers trained, getting prepared for a crisis that would not come in their lifetimes thanks to her and that child of the forest called Link.

He had arrived one sunny day, going through all the guards as if he could turn invisible, to say he had been sent to help. His sender was the forest, but it was also Zelda herself, those were the wonders of the ocarina of time. Now that she didn’t have the instrument anymore, the days were slow and dull, dragging their feet as if they were rubbing her powerlessness on her face.

It was not like Zelda wanted to travel in time or to change her current situation, which could only be called lucky. If she was to be honest, she just missed the music. Link was a gifted musician and he used to play beautiful melodies he had learned around in his adventures. There was an especially joyful tune, that he called Saria’s song in honour of a dear friend of the forest, that Zelda missed the most.

Stepping out of bed, she approached the window. It was going to be a rather sunny day, but it was still covered in that grey feeling that had found a nest in her heart. Link would not appear in the horizon, she could feel it. He had left in the search of his fairy companion and nobody knew of his whereabouts. Nobody cared either, not even Zelda’s father, even if Link had warned him of Ganondorf’s intentions and Hyrule could carry on its peaceful daily life thanks only to that.

With a sigh, Zelda looked at the other side of her bedroom. The Goddess’s Harp, located in a glass case in the middle of a shelf, cast a soft light over the books that surrounded it. Although it belonged to her, Zelda wasn’t allowed to touch it yet. According to the adults, it was not the right time, and she had no idea when that “right time” would come.

The castle was awfully quiet. Step by step, she made her way to the shelf. Giving it a try and play Saria’s song by memory, find some solace, it couldn’t do any harm, could it? Nobody would hear it, anyway. But what effect would it have? The Goddess’s Harp was a magical instrument, just like the ocarina. Zelda downed her gaze. Probably, the reason why it was not the right time yet was that she was still pursuing childish desires. The Goddess’s Harp was not a toy, it was not supposed to be played just to pass the time and miss a friend a little less. She knew better from her lessons and praying.

But Link was not just a friend. In the life she had, they hadn’t spoken that much -he was not the conversational type, anyway- but she understood the nature of the ocarina well enough to be sure they had shared a lot more in another layer of time, in a strand of destiny different from her own. They had battled together, struggled together, as adults confronted with a terrible fate. It was a pale certainty, thinner than the most fragile of dreams, but it was real.

A brighter shine from the shelf caught Zelda’s attention. The Goddess’s Harp seemed to be calling her, demanding to take a closer look. Hesitant, she dragged a chair nearby and climbed to see the instrument upfront. There were, noticeable for the first time, marks on its frame, imprints of battles and adventures buried in the distant past. 

The glass box was heavy, but Zelda could lift it. Looking up close, she realized the marks were not made by divine hands. The harp had witnessed more than the struggles of the Goddess.

“So, you were given to a hero,” Zelda whispered, “like my ocarina”.

That was reassuring, after all, she had got herself in big trouble after giving the ocarina to Link. To know the Goddess had done the same, even if nobody would believe Zelda if she told them so, was a relief, but the castle continued being awfully quiet and she still had no permission to use the harp, nor she had idea of how powerful the instrument could be.

“Did the hero give you back?” she asked, “or the Goddess had to collect you after the hero… the hero…?”

Zelda bit her lip. She was not going to ask out loud if the hero had died before seeing the Goddess again. Link was not dead, he would come back one of those days with some great new melodies to play. Angry at herself, she jumped off the chair and headed to the bathroom to start the day already, but she stopped at the door. The Goddess’s Harp was containing the same cry she was holding in consideration to an outside world that did not care about either of them. What if it was forbidden, what if the magical properties of the harp were still unknown? It was Zelda’s harp.

She climbed the chair again and took the instrument with both hands. It was not as heavy as she had thought, and its shape adjusted to her tiny body just fine. Hesitant, her hand hovered over the chords, trying to decipher their order and decide which one to strike first. All the sudden, Saria’s song seemed to distant and difficult, a song that didn’t belong to her. Zelda looked at the window. The sun was still close to the horizon, rising painfully slowly. Blinking her tears away, Zelda sat on the chair and held the harp tight. She had told Link that the song of time reminded her of their time together.

That tune was a spell and it was dangerous to play it on a magical instrument, but Zelda struck the first chord anyway. The sound died out too fast, so she played the note one more time. Then, she moved on to the next and decided to make it double too, as well as the rest of the song, transmitting her anxiety and fears to it. When she looked up again, after what felt like just minutes, the moon was the one shining in the sky. Terrified, Zelda clenched the harp against her chest and ran to the window, fearing to have caused a disaster, but everything was fine. It looked like another night in the normal life of Hyrule.

Zelda glanced the harp.

“Who taught you this song?” she asked, “the Goddess, or the hero who could not wait to meet her again?”


	3. The Essence of Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different take on what happened immediately after Zelda and Link defeated Dark Beast Ganon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GEN / Breath of the Wild / 1104 words.
> 
> The prompt is: Perfume
> 
> Also, what do you mean it has been three weeks since the Zelink Week ended?

When Link delivered the final blow in the eye of the Dark Beast, an inhuman shriek filled the air. A tremendous shock wave crossed space and hit him face first, overwhelming him with the heat and the foul smell of the Malice. Pushed out of his focus and balance, he could not reach the paraglider on time and crashed into the ground, holding onto the Bow of Light while he stumbled across the field.

He finally stopped when his back hit a tree. He couldn’t see and all his body hurt but his left arm, that had gone numb. He had probably dislocated his shoulder again, but there was no time to check it and be sure. Ganon was growling, still alive. Panting, Link managed to stand up, refraining from touching his face with his bare hands. It had started raining during the battle and now the drops of dirty rain felt like hot needles against his skin; Link knew better than bringing that nasty substance to his aching eyes.

If the horse had not run off, it shouldn’t be that hard to reunite with it. Link was more concerned about the fact Zelda had stopped talking to him. Had she been pushed away by the explosion too? If he stayed where he was, he wouldn’t find out.

Link dared to blink. It was painful, but bearable, after a few seconds, he was seeing sharply enough. Just when he felt prepared and turned to face Ganon again, a bright light, as if a complete star had fallen from the sky, engulfed everything.

Link fell to his knees. He had seen that same light one hundred years ago.

The guardians had just awakened, and they were chasing Zelda and Link across the path to Fort Hateno. They were though and merciless, and Link had run out of arrows. Without them, it was impossible to stun the damned robots, and because they were so many, the only thing left to do was to run, zigzagging to avoid the blasts of the guardians that had already broken Link’s shield. When the doors of the fort had appeared in the distance, Link had asked Zelda to seek safety behind the walls and had jumped into battle, slicing the legs of the guardians to slow them down, hitting their metal bodies with the Master Sword again and again, trying to break their shells. He had taken down one after another, without stopping to catch his breath or to check if Zelda had reached the doors, until a metal claw to his leg made him lose his stand and a guardian blasted a laser to his core.

The unbearable pain. Link had also fallen to his knees that time and Zelda had appeared behind him, asking him to forget about her and run for his life. Maybe there had been guardians blocking her path to the fort, maybe the walls had fallen and that was why she was there. In any case, his duty was to protect her, and he was not going to run anywhere.

A guardian had approached then, Link had managed to stand up and wield the Master Sword. The robot had started loading a blast and Link’s legs had refused to move. Then, Zelda had pushed him to the side and the light had come.

Ganon cried and shook under the divine power, his cloud of poisonous gas spiralling to the sky and painting it crimson. A small Hylian silhouette stood in front of it, with her arm hold up. Watching it for the second time, Link understood the power of Zelda, the one he had forgotten along with his entire life. She was alive and well, saving the day, sealing Ganon once and for all. 

With a final scream, the dark cloud dissipated, the light disappeared, and the day cleared to reveal a sunny weather. It was done. Link’s face hit the muddy grass. 

“Link!”

He wanted to answer, to tell her he was fine, but an indescribable relief rendered him unable to speak. Her step was firm against the ground. He decided a moment too late he’d rather not make her lift him.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, holding him in her arms in a way he vaguely remembered, “Link!”

He looked her in the eyes and tried to lift his left arm to touch her face, but it was still numb and didn’t respond. He then inhaled to speak and noticed the scent, the very same scent that had accompanied him to darkness, the one he had perceived for an instant when he awakened in the Shrine of Resurrection, just to lose it immediately, like water through his fingers.

“What is it?” insisted Zelda.

The details were coming back to Link’s memory. Zelda had deactivated the guardians, he had fallen, and she had lifted him in that same way they were in the present. She had told him something, but his senses were already failing him and, even when he wanted to tell her a million things, he hadn’t been able to open his mouth. He could just breath and feel that scent, a soft aroma that whispered to him that everything was alright. 

“Link, please”, Zelda asked, shaking him gently, “what happens?”

“You saved me.”

She let out a sad little laugh, a smile that was there to hide some sobbing. Link tried to release himself of her embrace and sit down, but his body protested, the gentle scent was holding it down.

“What are you talking about?”

“I am sorry, I am fine” he answered and turned a bit to the side. The cracking sound of the shoulder going back in place made them both cringe, “sorry!” he muttered and tried to sit down, but Zelda didn’t allow it.

“You silly,” she said and leaned to hug him tight, “you had me worried for a bit there!”

He was trembling for the shock of the shoulder and felt his head oddly hot, but the calming scent was omnipresent and pulled him to relax, to sleep. It was very tempting, but a fear was growing from the bottom of Link’s heart, one that made him restless.

“What is it?” she asked when she noticed his agitated heart.

“Don’t send me back.”

“Back to where?”

“The Shrine” he insisted, managing to lift his sore arm, “I don’t need the shrine, I swear it. I don’t want to forget”

Zelda tried to reply, but Link, finally sitting down, hugged her as tight as he could, even if the pain of his joint, which was already swelling, made him tremble. Zelda’s scent, the very essence of safety, was everything he needed.


End file.
